Crystal grinder attachment for suction cleaners



CRYSTAL GRINDER ATTACHMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Filed May 16, 1949 Nov. 13, 1951 E. F. MARTINET 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR. EugeneEMwrtinet x7 fvq g ATTORNEYS Fig.7"

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Nov. 13, 1951 E. F. MARTINET CRYSTAL GRINDER ATTACHMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed May 16, 1949 INVENTOR. EugezzeEMarZizzeZ BY M ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 13, 1951 2,574,578 on sTAL GRINDER ATTACHMENT, on

Time

EugeneF. Martlnet, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to. The. B- A. c e; C mpa y Q c1aed,10 iq, a,

' Anr ice iqn Mei 16, 1949, serial N9- 9343,?

6 .Glaims- ((3143-7 2 The invention relates to suction cleaners, and more particularly to a crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner for blowing pulverized crystals of a chemical reagent for denIothing, purifying or fumigating, onto floor cover ings, clothes and the like, or into'stora'ge" closets, compartments; drawers; containers and the? like for such articles". Attachment's'for suction cleaners have been provided for discharging crystal vapors 'with the air blown through a blowertool' attachedtoa' cleaner. However, sucli'v'apors are not efiecti ve or's'uflicient where it is desired tokill or'dc'stroy moths, insects and the like, or to treat articles to prevent the existencepi mothsand insects therein. l

Other attachments for suction cleaners have been provided inwhich crystals are "discharged into a compartment haying 'a's'creened outlet the crystals, -carried by "air carremspsss'gn through the compartment, areabraded against" the screen until crystal particles suiiici e' 'ntlyffine are produced to pass through 'thefs'cre'en and to be discharged was the air passing therethr ough li Such constructions, however; are'inefiective and inefficient in operation and must be operated for" a long time f6r discharging the 'desiijredpr quired amount or'cry tnsror killing moths and the like in the area or'compartnient treated? My prior Pateh'tNd. 2 ;l79,6'65"shows acrystal grinding mechanism "which "is most "e'fiicient ih; quickly breaking up moth' destroying crystals to the desired degree of fineness." l-Io wever'fth crystal grinding mechanism in said prior patent is directly connected "to" and driven by'thsuction cleaner motor which presents 'a' number' 'or difificulties. 1 First, the supply of crystals tobe ground is le cated in a compartment communicating with the grinder mechanism on the suction cleaner itself and remote from the discharge nozzle, and

and underneath furniture, and into clothes and the like.

Second, the direct connection of the crystal grinding mechanism with the suction cleaner motor creates, complications. Thehous'i'ng or the, crystalv supply and themounti'ng and drivingof the grinding mechanism on the suction cleaner proper and'in connection with the "suc-' tion cleaner motor,- fror'nI a mechanical standpoint, creates. difiicultiesi'in the'desig'n' and construction of the cleaner air passages and of the mounting and supporting mechanism for the motor'and grinding device." Furthermore", the permanent mounting and housing of'the grindihgmechanism in' the normal 'eXhaustbr blower passage of the leaner--'reduces'the" amount of suction available at theinorm'al suction nozzle of the cleaner when the equipment is 'not'useu.

prior patent is stopped witlithe feedv'alve from the crystal suppl'y tothe crystal grinder open; improperly, the'grinder case-willloacl with crystals and under certain atmosphericconditions; the" crystals" will cake" in'the grinder an and around the grinder fan. condition may not be no ticed: 'hy the operator but can a er e igr he la ha ism motor when th cleaner is. stati s a l e? time.

na. i m 1 11 Pa ented st u t re he speed of the main fcleaner'rnotor determines and 'ii' iq this a" f icrmdr an n ts ordinarily desirdfto, operate the. cleaner motor and the grinder, fan at different speeds forth'el m t sau'srsct r operation'of each.

Accordinglyfitis anobject of the present in-V v n bn o mi e" i hnrgvsi d eta crysta pqi e w hm i f-Pl Q 1 Cleaner W g is pi qr gs hel n a hand or the user and which, ma he be el immedi e d ac nt W Qh r s= n zz e. t he. d f a flex.- bl hos tach o a e ner.

4. further obiectof the pr sent invention is.

. mechanicalcomplications in mounting and sup- 3 porting the cleaner motor and in constructing the blower air passages in the cleaner per se.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is removed from connection with the cleaner during normal operation of the cleaner so that it does not interfere with the amount of suction available at the cleaner suction nozzle when the cleaner is used in a normal manner.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which cannot damage the cleaner mechanism per se in the event crystal particles become caked in the grinding mechanism.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner in which the crystal grinding mechanism may be rotated at a different or higher speed than the cleaner fan to enable greater flexibility in the time and character of grinding than if the grinding mechanism were directly connected to the suction cleaner motor.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner having a simplified arrangement of parts, permitting economical manufacture, and convenience in use.

These and other objects and advantages apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims may be obtained, the stated results achieved, and the described difficulties overcome, by the devices, constructions, arrangements, combinations, sub-combinations, parts, elements, discoveries and principles which comprise the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following general statement, a preferred embodiment of whichillustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principle-is set forth in the following description and shown in the drawings, and which are particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming part hereof.

The nature of the invention may be stated in general terms as preferably including in a unitary attachment for suction cleaners for grinding crystals and which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user, a housing including a crystal storage compartment, a grinding compartment, and a driving compartment; a valve controlled opening communicating between the storage and grinding compartments; a passage communicating between the driving and grinding compartments; an air blast inlet for the driving compartment; an air blast outlet for the grinding compartment; air turbine fan means in the driving compartment; crystal grinding blade means in the grinding compartment; and means connecting the air turbine and grinder blade means for driving the grinder blade means by the air turbine, whereby when the attachment inlet is connected with an air blast blown from the blower outlet of a suction cleaner the air blast passes through the driving and grinding compartments and is discharged through the air blast outlet and rotates the air turbine means thereby rotating the grinder means to grind crystals introduced into the grinding chamber by manipulation of the valve so that ground crystal particles are entrained in the air blast and discharged from the attachment outlet therewith.

By way of example, a preferred embodiment of the improved crystal grinder attachment for suction cleaners is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof wherein:

Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a suction cleaner having a hose attached to the blower outlet thereof provided with an embodiment of improved crystal grinder attachment at the end of the hose and associated with the blower discharge nozzle and shown in operation for blowing pulverized material onto an upholstered chair;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the improved crystal grinder attachment taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a plan sectional view of the improved crystal grinder taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 2 with certain parts broken away;

Fig. 4 is a plan sectional view similar to Fig. 3 but taken on the line 4- 4, Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the attachment outlet taken on the line 5-5, Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the attachment inlet taken on the line 6--6, Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view of the attachment valve operating knob looking in the direction of line 1--1, Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the parts of the crystal storage chamber; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view, partly broken away and in section, of one of the members of the attachment which forms a partition between the storage chamber and grinding chamber.

Similar numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the various figures of the drawings.

A so-called tank type suction cleaner is indicated generall at [0 in Fig. 1 having an inlet or suction end II and an outlet or exhaust end l2. When the cleaner [0 is operated in the usual manner, a flexible air hose is detachably connected to the inlet end H in a suitable manner and a suction nozzle is provided at the free end of the hose for cleaning purposes.

When the cleaner I0 is to be used for blowing pulverized crystals for demothing treatment and the like, the suction hose is disconnected from the inlet end ll of the cleaner [0 and may be connected to the cleaner outlet [2 as indicated at l3. The improved unitary crystal grinder attachment of the present invention which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user, generally indicated at M is then detachably connected to the outer end of hose I3 and a blower nozzle I5 is mounted on the attachment [4 for discharging crystal-laden air, indicated at l6, onto a surface or into a compartment to be treated.

The attachment I4 may be constructed in any of a number of ways to provide the desired compartments, mechanisms and passages. As shown, it includes a casing or housing member i! having a cup-shaped portion formed by preferably a cylindrical side wall I8 and a bottom wall IS. A tubular inlet member 20 projects at an angle from (Fig. 2) and is connected substantially tangentially (Fig. 3) with the bottom wall IQ for being telescopically connected to an end of flexible hose l3. The area of the inlet tube is preferably reduced by an internal tubular sleeve 2|, the outer end 22 of which communicates interiorly with the tubular inlet 20, and the inner end of which communicates by an opening 23 with the interior of the cup-shaped portion of member H. The space between the sleeves 29 and 2| may be closed off, as shown, by assembling therewith a crescent-shaped disc 24.

The internal surface of the cylindrical side wall iii; senla eed o i r-m a shou de 25. .o wh ch' nar t e ;m mbe -,Z6 ishseatedsan he unehaeed p t t on member e ral y i a ed a 21, and best shown in Fig. 9, has its enlarged annula l n e 2 t lesc pe W th n the recessed .nor i n o c i d ica cas n wa 3;- e a nue ,lar flange of member 21 is reduced in diameter as indicated at 29 and provided with a shoulder .30 above the enlarged portion 28 thereof, so that the annular flange 3| of crystal hopper member 32 (Fig. 8 may fit telescopically over there uce fiane p r on 9 of membe 21 an ,againstthe shoulder 38 thereof.

The attachment also includes another cupshaped member generally indicated at 3.3, for .fiprming the crystal storage chamber. Member-33 51185.3, top wall 34 and an annular cylindrical side wall3 5 which is telescoped over the annular flange 3A of member 32 and within the u per end of re.- cessed side wall ill of easing ll so that the outer end of wall 35 lies between wall is and flange '31,, and flange 3! in turn lies between wall :35 and reduced flange 29 of member 2'! as shown in Fig.2. The members I1, 26, 21, 32 and 3,3 are maintained assembled together by screws 36.

Crystal storage chamber member 33 is provided with an annular tubular neck 31 extending. upward from the top wall 34 to form a crystal-receiving openingv for the attachment, and neck 3'! may be closed by a suitable cap 38 provided with a finger knob39.

The members ll, 26, 27F, 32, 33 and 38, when thus assembled provide three compartments within the attachment, namely, a crystal storage compartment 40 formed by members 32, 33 and 38.; a grinding compartment 4,! between members '26. and 21; and a driving compartment 42 between members 1'! and 25. A central opening 43 ,is formed in member 2? communicating between the storage compartment t and the grinding compartment 4i, and another opening 46 in partition member as communicates between the driving compartment 32 and grinding compartment 4|.

An outlet opening is also formed through the telescoped walls it and 28 of members ii! and 2-l (Fig. 5) adjacent theopening Ml, and com,- municating between the grinding compartment 41 and the tubular outlet member 46 of. the attachment. Tubular portion 41 of discharge nozzle is assembled to the attachment by telescoping the same within outlet member 46. Fartition member 26 is formed centrally with a cup-shaped bearing compartment 48 in which a ball bearing 49 is mounted andretained-by, disc dikpreferably riveted at 15;! tomemberuzt.

A spindle 52 is journalled in bearing 49,,preferably constructed as a bolt which clamps disc 53 to the, inner race of bearing. 49 by nut 54. Disc 531s, formed at its outer edge with blades55 thus providing an air turbine fan in the driving, com,- pa-rtment 4,2. Nut 54 may be the hub of adisc 56 having a series of blades 5'! thereon forming tystal grinding blade means in the grinding compartment 4|.

A preferably frusto-conical housing 58; secured to, member 21 (Fig. 9) as by spot welding, projects into grinding compartment 4! andsure rounds the grinding blade rotor disc 55 and blades .51, as shown. Member 32715 formed with a conical wall 59 providing a downwardly-and inwardly sloping bottomzfor the crystal storage QQmpa-rtment 4t, and terminatingin a central ope n i0 ha n a arafil. Fig. ;8 .-at ne side ths eei or a purposetobe laterdescribed. The.

6 sin n t i ali n d with penin 43 in m m 3b 21 and is located immediately above the nut b- 54 of -grinder rotor 56. n-valve plate member 62 (Figs. 3 and 4) is pivptally mounted on assembly screw 63 on the top .w l l 6 4 of member 21. Valve member 62 has pne end 65 projecting through an opening 66 in the side wall of the attachment to which an operating knob 61 is attached. The other end .(i of valve plate 32 normally is located, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, in a position between openings 4:3 and 60 closing off communication between said gpenings. Valve member 52 is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 3 by spring 69. Further movement of the valve plate 62 in counterclpckwise direction (Fig. 3) is prevented by engagement of the end 68 of plate 62 with the rear 6.] at the lower endof conical wall-59.

One end 10 of spring E9, may be secured in the telescoped flange walls 35 and 31 of members 33 and 32 (Fig. 2), and the spring then wraps around a sleeve Tl held on screw 63, as indicated atfll, and terminates in an end l3 bent downward at 14 and secured in an opening 15in valve plate 62. The downturned end 14 of spring 69 .is .,moveable in an arcuate slot it formed in wall 649i member 21..

Flhus, the valve 62 is normally spring biased s-to the position shown in Fig. 3 but may be moved by the operator by pressing knob 67 to the position shown in Fig. 4 whereby communication between the crystal storge compartment ll and the grinding compartment 4.! is established. By controlling the amount of movement of valve plate 62, the amount of crystals fed to the grind.- ing chamber 4! may be regulated so as to control the amount of pulverized material blown out oiathe attachment.

The crystals (not shown) may be any one of :Several-germicides or disinfectants, as for instance, crystalline paradichlorobenzene, which will volatilize at ordinary room temperatures after a shorttime. The cap 38 for the attachment may be removed in order to introduce crystals into the storage compartment 453 after which the capis replaced.

When the cleaner Ii hose l3, attachment [4 and nozzle t5 are connected as illustrated in Big. 1 and crystals are present in compartment dB, the parts may be operated to discharge pulv ized crystals entrained in an air blast blown from nozzle 15 ontoany desired surface or into any desired compartment. For such purpose, the operator holds the end of hose [3 and the inlet tube 2110f attachment [4 conveniently in onehand, as shown, and points nozzle l5 in the desireddirection. The cleaner motor l9 meanwhileis startedand the blast of air issuing therefrom through hose I 3 passes through reduced tube 2 -2 and opening 23 into driving comparte ment 42 in a swirling manner. The air then passes {through openings 44 and 45 and out through nozzle l-5.

The'swirling air in driving compartment 42 s trikes air turbineblades 55 rotating the disc 53 and spindle 52 therewith at high speed due to the high velocity of the air developed by the eenstricted size of openings 23, 4,47 and 45. The speed; of rotation of spindle 52 may thus be greater than the speed of rotation of the motor in suction cleaner Ill. The rotation of spindle 52;;rotates bladed grinder rotor 55 substantially ntire y nc sedi ayu 5 When;the. operatorpresses knob 61 to the position show-n in. Fig. 4, valve plate62 movesto open position permitting crystals to drop from storage compartment All through opening 43 and into the space defined by rotor 56 and housing 58 where the crystals are pulverized or ground by impact by striking and being struck by blades 51 and walls of housing 58. The pulverized crystals drop through the space H between the outer peripheral edge of disc 56 and housing 58 and are there entrained by the rapidly rushing air currents passing through the grinding compartment and out through discharge opening 45 and thence out of nozzle I as indicated at [6.

Thus the discharge of crystal-laden air is under the direct control of the operator, substantially at the nozzle l5, at all times; and the operator can control the amount of pulverized crystals discharged by regulating the amount that the valve 62 is opened through control of pressure on operating knob 61.

When it is desired to cease the grinding and the discharge of crystals, it is only necessary to release pressure on knob 61 when the spring 69 moves valve 62 to the off position of Fig. 3 cutting oif the flow of crystals to the grinding chamber. Nevertheless, the air currents continue to pass through the attachment in the manner described and continue to rotate grinder blades 51 without grinding or discharging crystals because the feed of crystals thereto has ceased. In this manner, the operator always knows visibly by the character of the discharged blast when the valve is in on or off position. Thus it is impossible to stop the device with the valve improperly in on position and the grinding compartment cannot become loaded with crystals which might cake therein causing damage to the mechanism.

In its broadest aspects, the invention provides a storage chamber and grinder in a self-contained suction cleaner attachment unit, the grinder blades being driven by a fan which, in turn, is driven by suction cleaner air flow through the attachment which picks up and entrains the ground crystals.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a crystal grinder attachment construction for suction cleaners which eliminates prior art difficulties, solves existing problems in the art and obtains the new results described. Thus the control of grinding and discharging crystals is I immediately at the discharge nozzle where it may be instantly regulated by the operator manipulating the nozzle. The grinding mechanism may be operatedat a high speed for rapid grinding of the crystals, which speed is not limited by the particular speed at which the suction cleaner motor operates. Complications in the mechanical construction of the suction cleaner per so are eliminated since the grinder is separate from and remote from the cleaner. The grinder attachment is disconnected and removed in entirety when the cleaner is used in the normal manner as a suction cleaner, thus preventing the grinder attachment from reducing the amount of suction available at the nozzle. Furthermore, neither the cleaner nor the attachment can be damaged by caked crystals since loading of the grinding chamber with crystals when the grinder is stopped is eliminated. Finally, the attachment is simple in design and economical tomanufacture.

In the foregoin description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding; but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are utilized for descriptive purposes herein and not for the purpose of limitation and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment of improved crystal grinder attachment construction illustrated and described is by way of example and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction of the various parts.

Having now described the features of the invention, the construction and operation of a preferred embodiment of the improved crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner, and the advantageous, new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful devices, constructions, arrangements, combinations, subcombinations, parts and elements and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof, obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a unitary crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user, the attachment including a housing having a tubular inlet member adapted for connection with the outer end of a hose and the inner end of the hose being adapted for connection with the exhaust air blast outlet of the suction cleaner, and the housing having a tubular outlet member adapted for connection with a discharge nozzle, walls in the housing forming a storage compartment, a grinding compartment, and a driving compartment, the tubular inlet member communicating with the driving compartment, and there being an outlet opening communicating between the driving and grinding compartments, air turbine means in the driving compartment rotatable by an air blast entering said tubular inlet member, crystal grinder means in the grinding compartment having a driving connection with the air turbine means, valve means interposed between the storage compartment and the grinding compartment for feeding and regulating the flow of crystals from the storage compartment to the grinding compartment, the tubular outlet member of the housing communicating with the grinding compartment; whereby a blast of air entering the driving compartment through the tubular inlet member rotates the turbine to rotate the grinding means to grind crystals fed to the grinding compartment from said storage compartment, and whereby the ground crystals are entrained in the air blast discharged from the tubular outlet member.

2. In a unitary crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user as set forth in claim 1, and in which the tubular inlet member pro jects from the housing and includes walls forming an inlet opening of reduced area communicating between said tubular inlet member and said driving compartment.

3. In a unitary crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user as set forth in claim 1, and in which the compartment forming walls in the housing include a partition wall spaced from said storage compartment and constituting a wall of said grinding compartment, the opening between the driving and grinding compartments being formed in said partition wall, a spindle journalled in said partition wall having fixed at one end thereof an air turbine bladed rotor in the driving compartment and having fixed at the other end thereof a bladed grinding rotor in the grinding compartment.

4. In a unitary crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user as set forth in claim 1, and in which the crystal grinding means includes a rotor in the grinding compartment driven by the air turbine means, and in which there is an opening in one of the walls of the storage compartment communicating with the grinding compartment and the opening being axially of the crystal grinding rotor, and in which the valve means are associated with said opening and varies the size thereof.

5. In a unitary crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user asset forth in claim 1, and in which there is an opening in one of the walls of the storage compartment communicating with the grinding compartment and in which the valve means is spring controlled and normally spring biased closed across said opening, and in which means for actuating said valve means are exterior of the housing.

6. In a unitary crystal grinder attachment for a suction cleaner which is adapted for being held in a hand of the user as set forth in claim 1, and in which the communication between the tubular outlet member and the grinding compartment is adjacent the outlet opening communicating between the driving and grinding compartments.

EUGENE F. MARTINET.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,892,260 Wick Dec. 27, 1932 20 1,938,378 Ell Dec. 5, 1933 2,280,495 Martinet Apr. 21, 1942 

